The Fire Lady, Redux
by LapsusAngelus18
Summary: Re-written. Originally posted under the same name, I decided that I no longer liked it. Summary inside, R&R!
1. Courtyard Courtship

**A/N: Okay, folks, so this is my second attempt at writing Zutara. I'm hoping it doesn't _suck._ After re-reading _The Fire Lady, _I realized that I was vaguely disgusted with myself, for having posted such rubbish. So, think of this as a blessed redux. Here's to hoping it goes well!**

**Summary: AU. Set directly after the end of the war. In a world where Aang and Katara are nothing more than friends, Zuko confesses that he's been in love with the waterbender ever since she'd offered to heal his scar in the Catacombs under Ba Sing Se. When he asks her to be his Fire Lady, the Fire Nation equivalent of his wife, Katara is beyond thrilled. What will their friends say? What will her family say? What will the _Fire Nation _say? Do the happy new couple even care? R&R kindly, please!**

**Third Person Point of View – Katara**

Katara lay in bed, wide awake, too wired to sleep. The war was finally over. She and her friends were free to go back to their normal lives.

Just as soon as Zuko cleared them to leave the Fire Nation, that is.

While they were in no way being forced to stay there against their will, the new Fire Lord was concerned that some groups still loyal to his father would try to avenge his loss by making an attempt on the Avatar's life. He'd suggested that they stay for a while, as guests in the Fire Nation palace, and they had agreed. Because, let's face it. After months on end of sleeping on hard forest floors and enduring the ever changing weather of the four nations, they deserved a break.

Katara, however, was restless. After spending countless days, hours, weeks, _months_ worrying about everyone else, she was having trouble now thinking of just herself. She rolled to her feet, abandoning the plush Fire Nation bed, and wandering from the room.

She wasn't really sure where she was going, as she hadn't yet taken the time to explore the expansive palace, but it occurred to her that she didn't _care._ She was perfectly content to simply wander.

The interior of the palace was comprised of winding hallways, and more rooms than Katara thought necessary, while the exterior was ringed with perfect courtyard gardens, each with their own apparent ecosystem.. It was in one of those courtyards that she wound up, standing beside a small pond, and gazing up at the moon. Before she knew it, she'd fallen into the waterbending routine she'd been practicing since she was a little girl.

The gentle push and pull of the element calmed her racing mind, and she smiled.

"Can't sleep?" a voice asked, startling her into losing focus, and dropping the water whip she'd been working with. Spinning on her heel, her eyes fell upon Zuko, leaning casually against the wall.

"No," she replied, smiling a little bit. "You?"

The Fire Lord smirked, coming into the courtyard and sitting on the bench by where she'd been practicing.

"I don't sleep much, not lately, anyway."

Katara nodded. She'd sat in on several of the meetings that had been held since the war's end, watching and listening as Zuko tried to make sense of everything being asked of him. Aang, of course, was happy to offer whatever help he could, but Katara felt almost useless. As a waterbender, she was essentially from a completely different world. She had no advice to offer, only friendship and words of encouragement.

Straightening her posture, she went to sit beside him on the bench. Neither of them said anything for a long while, simply just sat together in companionable silence. Katara listened to the sounds of the night; the insects chirping and humming, the water in the pond lapping gently against the bank... when Zuko spoke, she nearly jumped.

"The sages are pressuring me to find a Fire Lady." he muttered. She glanced at him, surprised.

"Isn't Mai going to be your Fire Lady?" she asked, genuinely confused. Zuko shifted, looking almost uncomfortable as he slowly shook his head.

"No. I... I've realized that I don't know her. Not anymore, at least. The time she spent with my sister, during the war... it changed her. She's not the same."

Katara nodded, oddly relieved to hear this. While she liked Mai well enough, the girl made her skin crawl.

"Why is it so important that you have a Fire Lady at this very second?" she asked. "Why aren't you enough for right now?" Zuko laughed, although there was no humor in it.

"The sages... they're very old fashioned. They expect me to marry by my next birthday."

Katara drew back, shocked by this.

"But that's only seven months away," she said, instantly disliking that the sages were trying to control Zuko's life so quickly after naming him Fire Lord.

"That's the way things are," he was saying. "They want me to find a wife to produce heirs, and stand by my side. Now that my father's reign has ended, they have decided that they will no longer allow the Fire Lord to be without a Fire Lady.

Katara frowned, but nodded. She understood the need for heirs, but Zuko was only seventeen years old. Sighing, she looked at him.

"Do you have anyone in mind?" she asked. "Anyone you'd like to ask?"

He cut her a sideways glance, smirking a bit.

"I have someone in mind," he allowed. "But I doubt that she'd accept. Which is a shame, because I've been falling in love with her for a little over a year now."

Katara smiled at him, ignoring the tugging she felt at her heartstrings.

"Well, does she know that you love her?" she asked. Zuko chuckled, shaking his head.

"I highly doubt it." he replied. "She and I kind of... we had a rough start. She hated me for a very long time."

"And now?" Katara asked.

"I have no way of knowing. She kind of keeps her emotions to herself. She's not a firebender, so it's to be expected, but it's sometimes frustrating." Katara laughed a little bit.

"Well, how can you know if she doesn't feel the same, if you don't first tell her how you feel? That's a rather large part of a relationship, you know. Communication."

Zuko smiled a bit, staring at her for a few long moments, before casting his gaze downward.

"I don't know." he admitted. "I've dreamed of telling her how I feel for a few weeks now, but in every dream, she reacts differently. I don't even think I'd know what to say."

Katara nodded, understanding his plight. While she'd never been in this situation before, she knew how it felt to want to tell someone something so desperately, but not wanting to receive a negative reaction.

"Tell her," she finally said. "The worst that can happen is that she won't reciprocate the feeling." Zuko looked at her seriously for a few moments.

"That's my worst fear." he said quietly. "That I'll tell her how I feel, and she won't feel the same. That I'll finally confess to her how I've been feeling every single day, and have her walk away for good."

He looked down, not meeting her eyes.

"I can't think of anything worse."

As she looked at him, Katara's hear broke. She inched closer, lifting her hand to touch his scar without really knowing why.

"But maybe she feels the same," she murmured. "Maybe she's just been waiting for you to make the first move."

Zuko stared at her for a few long moments, before he too inched closer. Katara's breathing hitched in her chest, and she finally understood why her heart hurt. Looking into his citrine colored eyes, she realized that she was in love with the Fire Lord, and had been for quite some time.

Her blue eyes searched his gold ones, and what she found there startled her.

"Maybe she wants the same things you do." she heard herself say. Zuko blinked, before leaning forward. He hesitated when his lips were inches from hers.

"Maybe I'm the luckiest man alive," he whispered, before pressing his mouth to hers. Katara sighed, melting into him as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Feeling exploded within her, a sensation that both frightened and thrilled her at the same time.

Her fingers threaded through his hair, and she reveled in the rightness of this moment. When at last he pulled away, he had her face gently cupped in his hands, and was gazing at her with a small smile on his face.

"I love you," he whispered, and Katara nearly squealed. "I have for a very long time... probably since we were both trapped in the Catacombs under Ba Sing Se."

Katara smiled, and she felt tears clog her throat.

"And here I thought you didn't know what to say," she teased. He glared at her playfully, before brushing her hair back behind her ear.

"So?" he murmured. "What do you say? Will you be my Fire Lady?"

Katara gazed at him for what felt like eons. Thousands of thoughts swirled through her head, and her heart beat rapidly in her chest. It screamed at her to say yes, to throw her arms around him, and shriek with glee. Her brain, however, whispered something different.

What would their friends say? What would the Fire Nation say? What would her _father _say? She chewed on her lower lip, thinking.

She had lived her entire life, doing for others, and rarely for herself. She'd spent all of her fifteen years, dedicated to making others happy, always putting herself second.

As she looked up at him, looked up into the eyes of the scarred ruler of the most dangerous nation in the known world, she realized that she didn't much care what anyone else thought in that moment. All she cared about was her heart, and how it wept for Zuko, begging her to think of just herself for once.

"Yes," she heard herself whisper. Pure joy lit Zuko's eyes, and for the first time in what felt like months, a real smile brightened his face.

"Really?" he asked, pulling her closer, and feathering kisses all over her face. _"Really?"_

Katara giggled, leaning her forehead against his, and gazing up into his eyes shyly.

"Yes, really." she replied.

Laughing happily, Zuko wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and hugged her tightly. Katara happily leaned against him, her head resting against his chest. His heart beat rapidly beneath her ear, and she smiled as he kissed the top of her head.

"We'll make the announcement tomorrow," he murmured after a few moments, and she pulled back slightly to look up at him nervously.

"Will the sages allow it?" she asked, thinking about that for the first time, and feeling stupid for it not having occurred earlier. "Can a waterbender even become the Fire Lady?"

Zuko gazed down at her, before smiling a little bit.

"Katara, you do realize that, in defeating my father, we broke over one hundred years of rules, right?" he asked. "What's one more, really?"

Katara blinked at him, before she smiled.

"I guess you're right," she mused. Zuko chuckled, kissing her forehead.

"Of course I am."


	2. The Return of Princess Ursa

**A/N: Okay! I've literally sat all night with this open on my computer, deciding how to go about it. After reading the Avatar wiki page more than I would like to freely admit, I think I've finally managed... something.**

**WARNING: For those who have not read part one of _The Search,_ this chapter contains a possible spoiler. So, unless you don't particularly mind this, I'd recommend reading that first. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Katara's PoV**

After Zuko had proposed, the two of us had remained in the courtyard until nearly dawn, talking about everything from the turtle ducks that swam in the pond, to the impending announcement he planned to make at around midday.

Several long embraces, and even longer kisses later, we went our separate ways, back to our separate rooms for what would probably be the last time in our lives. It was an amazing feeling.

Once again too wired to sleep, I quite literally flitted around the room, digging through the trunks of fine gifts that had been showered upon my friends and I for helping the Avatar stop the war. Pulling out countless bundles of silk and cloth as soft as the downy fur of a baby moose lion, I tried to decide which outfit would be most appropriate for the announcement.

I tried several of the outfits on, finally deciding on a sleeveless red and gold ao dai. It was decorated with golden flowers, and bore the crest of the Fire Nation on the sash at the waist. Glancing in the mirror, I sighed as I reached up to touch my mother's betrothal necklace.

While I knew that, as Fire Lady, I wouldn't be needing it, I couldn't bring myself to take it off. Instead, I covered it with a jeweled golden choker. Arranging my hair into a customary top-knot, I glanced down at the imitation Fire Nation crown hair piece. Deciding it was appropriate, I slipped it into place, slid my feet into a pair of golden sandals, and then went to go find Zuko.

I passed a training courtyard, where Sokka and Suki were practicing. Suki was in the middle of chastising Sokka for something he'd done wrong when she noticed me.

"Hi, Katara!" she called. "You look very... Fire Nation-y." I smirked, walking into the courtyard.

"I do, don't I?" I asked, smiling down a little bit at my outfit. My brother arched a brow.

"Katara... I don't like the way you just said that." he muttered. Suki slapped him.

"Shush," she hissed, before turning back to me. "Why are you all dressed up?"

I smiled a bit, but chewed on my lower lip as I debated on telling them. Thankfully, however, Zuko came to my rescue. He came into the courtyard, stopping beside me.

"I've asked her to be my Fire Lady, and she's said yes." he said, smiling down at me, and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. Sokka looked at him, indignant.

"You did what! Shouldn't you have... I don't know... asked for my blessing, or something first!? I'm her brother!" I arched a brow at him, glancing pointedly at Suki's betrothal necklace.

"You didn't tell me that you were going to propose to Suki," I reminded him. Sokka cut me a glare.

"That's different," he grumbled. Suki frowned, looking at him.

"How is that different?"

"It just is!" Sokka shouted, pouting. Zuko chuckled.

"We're going to make the announcement at midday."

"Fire Lord!" a sage cried, hurrying into the courtyard. Zuko turned to the elderly man.

"Yes?" he asked, his expression bouncing between alarmed and confused.

"You have visitors, my lord." the sage breathed. Zuko and I looked at each other, confusion only deepening.

"Who?" he asked. The sage shook his head.

"Forgive me, my lord, but it would be best if you would simply come with me."

With that, the sage was off, Zuko all but dragging me behind him as we followed.

* * *

When Zuko and I entered his office, the Fire Lord stopped dead in his tracks. A man and a woman sat in the chairs facing Zuko's desk, their hands joined and resting upon the armrests.

At the sound of our entrance, the woman turned. She had black hair that framed her beautiful face, and golden eyes that I had spent the previous night gazing into. I immediately recognized her from the paintings scattered about the palace. Princess Ursa smiled at her son.

"Hello, Zuko." she said softly.

The man she'd been sitting beside turned, and smiled, bowing his head respectfully to the Fire Lord.

"Mother?" Zuko breathed, his hold on my hand growing weaker with each passing second. Realizing that he might collapse, I led him around his desk to his chair, where he sat down heavily.

"Who is this lovely girl?" Ursa asked, smiling up at me. At Zuko's apparent loss of speech, I smiled back at her.

"My name is Katara. I'm a Waterbender from the Southern Water Tribes, as well as..." I faltered.

"My Fire Lady to be." Zuko answered for me. With a brief smile up at me, he returned his eyes to his mother. "Where have you been all of these years?"

"Hira'a," Ursa answered. She glanced at the man she was seated next to, and smiled nervously. "Zuko... I have something to tell you. Something that I know will have a very large impact upon your life, and your role as Fire Lord."

Zuko blinked at her for several moments, before signaling for her to continue. Taking a deep breath, Ursa smiled.

"Zuko, this is Ikem. Your father."

I felt my eyes widen, as I looked down at the man from where I stood behind Zuko's chair. After a few moments, I began to see similarities between the two.

"My... father? No, my father is currently rotting away in the Boiling Rock." Ursa shook her head.

"No, Zuko. I was engaged to Ikem, before Ozai and Azulon came to Hira'a to speak with me. Azulon revealed a prophecy, stating that the bloodline of Avatar Roku, when paired with his own, would create a line of powerful rulers for centuries. I was already pregnant with you when I was forced to marry Ozai."

Zuko stared first at his mother, and then at the man whom she claimed to be his biological father. Ikem smiled slightly.

"Word travels fast," he began slowly. "And your mother and I hear that you are very skilled in dual-wielding dao swords."

When Zuko didn't answer, looking to me, I smiled at Ikem.

"He is. He is one of the best swordsmen I have ever seen."

All was quiet for a few moments, and it took me several minutes to realize that Zuko's flesh was steadily growing hotter, eventually to the point where I had to snatch my hand away from his shoulder to avoid being burned.

"How could you not have told me!" Zuko bellowed at his mother. "How could have have _kept that from me! _I have spent my entire life, trying to make that man happy, trying to be the son he wanted, and in the years after you were banished, I was _just like him! I was a monster, just like him!"_

"Zuko -"

"If I had known that he wasn't my father, I could have been better! The war could have been ended sooner! Ozai banished me, after giving me this -" he shouted, pointing at his scar. "- and sent me on the impossible task of capturing the Avatar! I spent nearly a year following Katara, Aang, Sokka, and Toph, endangering all of them when I could have been _helping them!_ Do you know that the Fire Nation killed Katara's mother, under Azulon's command? Do you know that the late Admiral Zhao murdered the Moon Spirit in the North, forcing the inevitable death of a _sixteen year old girl?_ If I had known that Ozai was not my real father, if I had known that I wasn't the _son of the Devil, _I would have joined the Avatar sooner, and all of the death and carnage could have been prevented!"

By this time, he was screaming, tears streaming down his face, and smoke pouring from his nostrils. He had surged to his feet, and was leaning with his fists against the desk, shoulders heaving.

Ursa, who had endured her son's outburst, looked near tears. Ikem appeared shocked, and had glanced at me with heartbreaking sympathy when Zuko had mentioned my mother's murder.

"Zuko," I murmured, putting a hand on his shoulder. The tension in him lessened a fraction, and he looked back at me. After a few moments, he smiled very slightly, before looking back at his mother.

"Forgive me for my outburst," he murmured quietly, sitting down again. Ursa, when Zuko was not looking, smiled up at me gratefully before addressing her son.

"You are right to be upset with me, Zuko, and you are right when you said that I should have told you. I wanted to, and nearly did several times... but I knew that if Ozai were to find out that you were not, in fact, his son... that he would kill you."

"I suspect that he found out, somehow." I said, looking at Ursa. "He banished Zuko shortly after you were banished."

The line in which Zuko had set his mouth was a grim one, and he nodded silently.

"This explains why you and Azula are so different." I continued, causing Ursa to grimace.

"Azula, is she...?"

"She is alive," Zuko replied. "Locked away in a mental health ward after a near fatal psychotic break at the end of the war."

"Near fatal?" Ursa asked, alarmed. "Did she try to hurt herself?"

"No," Zuko muttered. "She tried to kill me, and would have succeeded had Katara not restrained her, before using her abilities to heal me."

Ursa, who had gone almost unnaturally still at the mention of Azula making an attempt on her brother's life, looked up at me.

"You... you saved my son?" she whispered, tears in her eyes.

"She has saved me many times," Zuko said, smiling up at me. "From nearly everything, including myself."

Ursa, who was incoherent, simply sobbed. Ikem, however, smiled warmly at me, reaching out his hand to shake mine.

"Although he was not raised as my son, from the moment Ursa told me of him, I loved him. I cannot think of a better match for Zuko. Thank you for being to him what Ursa is to me."

I was shocked into smiling, gazing down at Zuko who had looked up at me.

"I cannot think of anyone I would rather be with." I answered truthfully, not taking my eyes from those of my Fire Lord.

"A wedding, then!" Ursa cried suddenly, standing and clapping her hands together. "We have a wedding to plan!"

"Katara and I plan to announce our engagement at midday," Zuko answered. Ursa smiled warmly at me.

"Come, dear, you and I have much to discuss!" she chirped happily. Zuko blinked at her.

"Ah, Mother..." he mumbled. "Katara doesn't know you..."

"It's okay, Zuko." I assured him, smiling. "You and Ikem have some... catching up to do. And besides, I would very much like to get to know the woman who is to be my mother-in-law."

At these words, Ursa beamed, and held her hand out for me to take. With one last smile down at Zuko, I took it, and she led me from the room.

Once the door closed, Ursa turned to me.

"You really must tell me how you changed Zuko's mind on the Water Tribes. He, like Ozai, detested them for a very long time."

I chuckled.

"He and I grew close, during our travels with the Avatar. He actually accompanied me when I searched for my mother's killer, helping me track him down." Ursa nodded, her eyes cast downward.

"If... you don't mind me asking, who was it? That took your mother from you?"

I smiled slightly, looking down, myself.

"The then-commander of the Southern Raiders, Yon Rha." Ursa looked at me.

"And did you...?" she murmured, and I smiled bitterly.

"Kill him?" I guessed, and she nodded. "No, I didn't. I wanted to, and I came very close to doing just that. But when I looked down at him... I didn't see the ruthless man who had murdered my mother in cold blood. I saw a scared, pathetic, shell of a man, who didn't deserve the time it took to draw breath, never mind the little effort it would have taken to kill him."

"Why did he kill her?" Ursa breathed. I sighed, glancing towards the ceiling for a few moments before answering.

"Fire Lord Azulon learned that there was a single Waterbender remaining in the Southern Water Tribe. I was eight when they attacked my village. I ran into my house to be with my mother, because I didn't know what was going on. I was scared, and when I went into my house, and saw the strange man standing over my mother, that feeling only grew. My mother begged me to leave, and when I didn't, Yon Rha yelled at me, saying that I'd heard my mother, and to get out. I did, and I went to find my father."

Smiling, I returned my gaze to the floor in front of me as we walked.

"By the time we made it to our house, my mother was gone. She had lied to Yon Rha to protect me. She had told him that she was the last remaining Waterbender, and it cost her her life."

When I looked over at Ursa, she had tears in her golden eyes. She watched me for several moments, before she threw her arms around my neck.

"I am so sorry," she whispered.

I smiled after a moment, returning the embrace.

"There is nothing for you to be sorry for. It wasn't you who ordered the death of an innocent woman." I drew back, smirking at her. "And if I've heard correctly, you played an instrumental part in the death of the man who _was_ responsible."

Ursa was shocked into laughing.

"You would be correct," she mused. "After Ozai selfishly went to Azulon following the death of his nephew, Lu-Ten, and the abandonment of a six-hundred day siege on Ba Sing Se by his brother, Iroh, to request that he be made heir in Iroh's place, Azulon was furious. Ozai informed me that Azulon had cast his judgment, and told Ozai that for his arrogance, he would have to know the pain of losing a first-born son." She sighed. "He ordered Ozai to kill Zuko. So, together, he and I hatched a plan. I would kill the Fire Lord in his sleep, Ozai would banish me for treason, and he would become Fire Lord."

"Did you know?" I asked. "That Ozai would challenge Zuko to an Agni Kai after he was made Fire Lord?" Ursa made a face.

"No." she murmured. "If I had... I would have taken Zuko with me."

"Why didn't you?" I inquired, genuinely confused. The Fire Nation Princess smiled grimly.

"Ozai needed an heir. One who would repair the Fire Nation. If I had taken him... Azula would have been made Fire Lord, after her father, and I couldn't bear the thought of that." She looked down. "Make no mistake, I love my daughter... but she is sadistic and cruel, very much like her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were."

I laughed humorlessly.

"You don't have to tell me that," I muttered. "She nearly killed my friends and I on several separate occasions." Ursa winced.

"I am sorry for that... for her actions. I used to look at her, and feel like a failure, as a mother... if I had perhaps taken a more influential role in her life, she may have escaped the insanity of her father's side of the family."

I looked at her for a very long while, before I shook my head.

"As much as I would like to believe that... seeing the person that she has become, I do not think that she could have escaped it, regardless of what you did or did not do. She enjoys hurting people, and she enjoys torturing prisoners."

Ursa hung her head as I said this, and I instantly regretted my words.

"I wish to see her, but... I do not believe that it would have a positive effect." I shook my head in agreement, and she sighed. "I would, however, like to see Ozai. He and I have a few things to discuss, regarding his treatment of my son."

As Ursa's temper spiked, the flames in the lanterns along the walls jumped, alerting me to the fact that Ursa was, indeed, a Firebender.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at me with a smile.

"Look at us, gossiping like old maids. Come, dear – we have a wedding to plan!"


End file.
